2015 | |
Tournament information | |
---|---|
Sport | Counter-Strike: Global Offensive |
Location | Katowice, Silesian Voivodeship, Poland |
Dates | March 12, 2015–March 15, 2015 |
Administrator | Valve ESL |
Tournament format(s) | 16 team GSL group stage Eight team single-elimination playoff |
Venue | Spodek Arena |
Teams | 16 teams |
Purse | $250,000 USD |
Final positions | |
Champions | Fnatic (2nd title) |
1st runners-up | Ninjas in Pyjamas |
2nd runners-up | Team EnVyUs Virtus.pro |
MVP | Olof "olofmeister" Kajbjer |
ESL One Katowice 2015, also known as Katowice 2015, was the fifth Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Major Championship, held from March 12 to March 15, 2015, at the Spodek Arena in Katowice, Poland. It was the first CS:GO Major of 2015. It was organized by Electronic Sports League with sponsorship from Valve. The tournament had a total prize pool of US$250,000. The defending champion was Team EnVyUs, whose roster had won the previous Major as Team LDLC.com.
Eight teams advanced from the group stage to a playoff bracket, earning "Legends" status and automatic qualification to the following Major. Fnatic, Team EnVyUs, Ninjas in Pyjamas, Virtus.pro, Natus Vincere, PENTA Sports, and Team SoloMid were returning Legends from the previous Major. Keyd Stars was the only new Legends and became the first South American team to play in a Major and qualify to the playoff bracket. HellRaisers lost its Legends status after losing to Counter Logic Gaming and Keyd Stars in the group stage. The grand finals featured two Swedish teams. Fnatic defeated PENTA Sports and Virtus.pro in the bracket while Ninjas in Pyjamas defeated Team SoloMid and Team EnVyUs on their way to the grand finals. Fnatic then beat Ninjas in Pyjamas 2–1 in the finals.[1] Fnatic became the first team to win a second Major, and remained the only team to do so until MIBR (attending Katowice 2015 as Keyd Stars) won MLG Columbus 2016 and ESL One Cologne 2016.